A former Mrs SA contestant, who had demanded transparency, has won a court battle for access to the financial reports of the pageant’s affiliate, Women4Women (W4W).
Chandrè Goosen-Joubert from Cape Town approached the Western Cape High Court in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) when W4W director Cindy Nell-Roberts refused to provide the financial documents for 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The court heard because W4W was a non-profit organisation concerned with the upliftment of women, Goosen-Joubert was entitled to know how its funds were disbursed.
However, Nell-Roberts argued that Goosen-Joubert brought the application for an ulterior motive and had embarked on a social media smear campaign against her and the organisation.
Even if she was a general member of the public, and had a reason to believe the funds were not being used in a manner that was intended, she was entitled to invoke the provisions of Paia
— Judge BP Mantame
Last June Mrs SA and its owner, Joanie Johnson, failed to silence Goosen-Joubert with an urgent interdict after she had posted on social media about the contestants having to spend thousands to participate and called for transparency.
“I have witnessed contestants being placed under immense pressure to raise money under the guise of Women4Women so they can participate in the pageant. The amounts the contestants are required to raise are exorbitant and the organisation has provided no transparency as to how and for what the money is spent,” Goosen-Joubert said at the time.
Goosen-Joubert entered the pageant for married women in February 2020.
“At the time it was made known to her that 312 other contestants had also entered the beauty pageant. The 312 contestants were reduced to 100 . Following the Top 100 contestants, there was another elimination process to 50 contestants . Another round of eliminations followed to 25 contestants, which progressed to the final event of the beauty pageant,” she said.
She competed through each round of the elimination process and made it to the final event.
After each round of the elimination process, all contestants, including Goosen-Joubert, were required to conclude written agreements with Mrs SA.
During each round, finalists had to sell tickets for a women’s breakfast, gala dinner and fundraise to the tune of more than R10,000 each.
In her affidavit, Goosen-Joubert said she met each requirement in terms of the contracts.
She said she went over and above these requirements and raised R136,100 for W4W, in addition to the required amounts.
However, she did not claim the title.
She won Mrs Charity instead and was furnished with a new contract to raise more funds for the organisation under her new title.
Uncomfortable with what she was getting into, Goosen-Joubert declined to accept the title.
The court heard Goosen-Joubert studied the W4W bank statements and noticed funds were used for personal accounts such as school fees, a personal trainer, phone app subscriptions and Nell-Roberts’ daughter’s birthday party.
“Ms Nell-Roberts, it was said, has admitted making numerous payments for personal expenses, which she alleges were made ‘erroneously’ from the respondent’s bank account. The applicant contended the truth was rather that charity funds intended for women’s empowerment, community upliftment and youth education were used to pay for personal expenses. It was the applicant’s contention that Ms Nell-Roberts tried to silence her by instituting legal proceedings against her,” judge BP Mantame said in his judgment.
Mantame said Goosen-Joubert raised a considerable amount of money for the organisation.
“Even if she was a general member of the public, and had a reason to believe the respondent’s funds were not being used in a manner that was intended, she was entitled to invoke the provisions of Paia. The right to access to information fosters a culture of transparency and accountability in public and private bodies. The applicant clearly requires the documents requested.
A suggestion that the applicant abused the procedures set out in Paia for the purpose of obtaining pre-action discovery is groundless and unsubstantiated
— Judge BP Mantame
“A suggestion that the applicant abused the procedures set out in Paia for the purpose of obtaining pre-action discovery is groundless and unsubstantiated. These allegations, in my view, are premature as the applicant has not yet elected to institute proceedings, whether civil or criminal.
“The issues she identified were the personal payments made from the respondent’s non-profit organisation bank account, which was said to have been erroneously made and corrected. Whether all the erroneous personal payments made were reversed, that was not clarified.”
He said the contention the information was requested for ulterior motives, as Goosen-Joubert initially embarked on a smear campaign or posted unsavoury information on social media against Nell-Roberts, was irrelevant to the information requested.
“The alleged standing feud between the applicant and Ms Nell-Roberts should have been dealt with in a different forum, if any, and not be a defence in these proceedings. On considering the evidence presented, there is no suggestion such posts are linked to the financial statements requested.
“In any event, even if there was any connection between the information requested and the social media posts, the respondent has a legal remedy at its disposal to prohibit the applicant’s alleged behaviour on social media platforms. However, there is no evidence such was done.
“In my view the applicant has made out a proper case that entitles her to the documents requested, save for the financial statements of 2018, as they did not form part of the initial request,” said Mantame.
Nell-Roberts was ordered to hand over the general ledgers, other documents and books used in preparation of the organisation’s financial statements for 2019, 2020 and 2021 to Goosen-Joubert’s lawyers.
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